Tumblin' Cliffs
Tumblin' Cliffs is a Post-War settlement high in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales. Its history is full of raids, sacks, and attacks, yet through this, the town has remained in business. Since 2101, the town has maintained close ties with the Bushrangers, who protect the town from outside threats. Their isolation prevents them from growing wildly, however, the town is friendly and welcoming to all strangers, especially "those handsome rangers from down the road." History Tumblin' Cliffs was founded seven years after the war by refugees from Sydney. When the war struck, the massive urban centre emptied of all but ghouls and raiders. Refugees from the Western Suburbs ended up scattered around the Blue Mountains, banding together to defend against outside threats and scrape out a living. Tumblin' Cliffs was a Pre-War Scenic Site and was popular among hikers and backpackers, both domestic and foreign. The first Tumblin' Cliffs - founded in 2084 - was a multi-cultural settlement on its way to developing its own French-English dialect. First Tumblin' Cliffs Tumblin' Cliffs wasn't big in its first years but it was successful. The high number of hikers and backpackers familiar with the trails threading through the mountains meant, as the roads eroded and were covered up, the town could still trade. Tumblin' entered into trade relations with Mount Victoria in 2085 and travelled along the back trails to reach it, surpassing the bottleneck at Katoomba. Tumblin' Cliffs expert knowledge of the terrain saw them become employed with many prospective caravan companies as guides. They were a sight to see in the early days; hunting rifles dangling across Pre-War suits, massive backpacks loaded with sleeping bags and supplies and wide-brimmed hats keeping away flies, all leading brahmins and leather-clad caravaneers through tight gullies, past scenic vistas and along tumbling trails. Tumblin' Cliffs was isolated. Paths connected it to nearby towns but the only Pre-War infrastructure around the town was a two-lane asphalt road. Jury-rigged pipes and purifiers sucked water out of Lake Burragorang but the ground was too mountainous for any major agricultural projects to occur. Bighorners hadn't yet arrived in the area and Brahmin required too much grazing land for the town to maintain. As such, the town survived almost entirely off hunting and foraging. The guides not only brought in caps for food and supplies but also rabbit, 'Roo and Radstag meats. Those that weren't out guiding foraged for bush tucker and attempted to figure out just what was edible. Almost no industry existed in the town; one smith worked out of his backyard to repair any weapons and armour. The town itself was quite a sight. Resting high on the mountains, the scratch built houses and Pre-War trailers weaved together. The dirt was packed hard in the summer and covered in roughly cut duckboards during the winter. Catering to less than a 100 people, the town maintained small amounts of infrastructure - a smithy in someone's backyard, storehouses built into hills and, most importantly to the occasional traveller that came through, a small pub in the main square. All of this overlooked Lake Burragorang far below the town, creating an altogether beautiful Post-War town. The Bushie-Scrapped War (January 2101 - December 2102) Tumblin' Cliffs was the key instigator of the Bushie-Scrapped War. The Scrapped were a band of ironic, stereotypical raiders; they strapped scrap metal to their arms as body armour (a bad idea when temperatures can reach highs of 50 degrees), raped and plundered for a living and were all highly dependent on chems. Against this, the Bushrangers were a group of wasteland saviours down on their luck after an accidental atrocity. In 2090, just before the Mount Victoria Massacre, Tumblin' had signed on with the Bushies, providing them with guides in exchange for defence and medical aid. With the decline of the Bushies throughout the 2090s, this deal seemed less useful to Tumblin', however it was never formally revoked. Tumblin' was raided by the Scrapped gang just after the New Years Fireworks. The town was recovering from a night of revelry due to the arrival of the new year and the arrival of Bighorner sheep from the West. In the early hours of January 1, 2101, the town lay empty and deserted, with everyone comfortable tucked away in their beds. As such, when the Scrapped arrive, they had little to do except slit throats and loot. The town was wiped out within minutes, though the raiders remained in place to enjoy their spoils. Only one escaped from the town, a young woman by the name of Linda Horsendale. Horsendale was a Post-War child, raised on stories of the Old-World, not experiences. She had been taught to be cynical, level-headed and practical. However, little could hold back her naivety of the world. When her home was sacked, she fled to the one group she thought could help her: the Bushrangers. Arriving at Camp K a fortnight later, Linda's story managed to rally Colonel Fitzgeralds's wavering will. A platoon-sized force of Bushies left Camp K on the 20th January and arrived at the outer bush of Tumblin' on 28th. On the morning of the 1st February, 2101, the platoon launched a dawn assault on the town. The Scrapped made the same mistake the original town did. Drunk and chemmed out, they were defenceless against the coordinated and experienced Bushies. Machine guns at their waist, rangers would burst into rooms and shoot every last raider dead. At the old bar - now a den of drinks, chems and other vices - the platoon first encircled the place, before opening fire. Not a single of the Scrapped made it out alive. The battle for Tumblin' Cliffs was the first battle of The Bushie-Scrapped War, a conflict that spread around the Blue Mountains and involved numerous small towns. While the war didn't return to Tumblin' again, it was on high alert and, after Horsendale rallied the survivors, was happy to provide soldiers and guides to the Bushies that saved them. This war ultimately led to a regrowth of the Bushies reputation, putting them back into place as the lawmakers of the mountains. Quiet Solitude When the war wrapped itself up late in 2102, Tumblin' continued to thrive. The war had made many flee the low-lying areas in which the Scrapped inhabited. Horsendale's construction of a large radio tower to communicate and coordinate with the Bushies aided it in attracting many traders and refugees, flooded the town with wealth and experience. Horsendale lost her naivety quickly as Tumblin's leader and proved to be a diligent, dutiful and competent leader. She established trade routes (with guides from the town of course) with many settlements, especially the Bushrangers to the north. From 2102 up until the 2130s, when the reoccupation of Sydney began in earnest, Tumblin' was a boom town of 400, home to radio operators, smiths of various nature and even a newspaper. The town entered into a slump in the 2130s and 40s. New settlements had cropped up in the city and a scavenging rush was underway. The isolation of the town prevented it from accessing the large market in those passing through, although the town did manage to provide guides to many. Slowly, the town emptied. Cattlemen drifted away from their farms, backyard technicians moved to where the scrap was better, traders moved where the money was. Tumblin' was away from the boom towns. This didn't have much effect on the town itself. While Brahmin ranching is a tough business in the best of places, out in the Bluies it's all but impossible. Bighorners, on the other hand, love it. Guiding and trading part-time, ranching full time. Trade in Bighorner meat and hides have kept the town going through the hard times and kept all its inhabitants well dressed. In 2170, construction began on a clothing manufactory however this has proven to be less valuable than expected. In 2200, the manufactory was shut down. Modern Day Tumblin' Cliffs spent much of the 22nd and 23rd centuries in isolation. The tumultuous years of 2100-2140 were not seen again. Even today, with the recent movements within the Bushrangers for direct outward expansion, the town remains a friendly, if sleepy, place. The textiles workshop remains shut down and full of radroaches, but the Bighorner stations remain busy and prosperous. There have been recent problems with dingos from down south but the cattleman pack enough Pre-War ordinance to see off most problems. The town proper remains almost entirely unchanged from 2140. Brahmins are still found along the street, tied up outside the main stores: Buddy's Bullets, Paula's Pub and Armstrong's Shorts. Occasionally a travelling will wander in on a Brumbie looking for a place to rest but other than that, the town is full of locals. This doesn't mean they're backwards; with the number of people still working as guides around the area, most people are more up to date on world events than the Bushies just down the road. Electricity has even but put in around the town, with almost all homes possessing at least rudimentary refrigeration and air-conditioning. This power is primarily supplied by large windmills along the cliffs. Economy Tumblin' Cliffs economy is primarily based off the Bighorner stations surrounding the settlement. While guiding caravaneers and wanders through the mountains remains an important cultural tradition, trading the hides and meats of Bighorners to groups like the Bushrangers provides a significantly greater profit. Guiding does provide a decent amount of income but with the lowered number of settlers travelling through the Blue Mountains, finding customers has become harder and harder. Tumblin' remains a reliable trade partner to numerous wasteland settlements. The Manufactory has a strong trade relationship with Tumblin', providing spare parts for their electrical equipment in exchange for meats and clean water from Lake Burragorang. Tumblin' does not possess the Brahmin to send out caravans of their own and must rely on their trade partners to come to them. Relations Tumblin' Cliffs is a peaceful, reliable trade partner to most groups. They possess a zero tolerance policy towards raiders and slavers but other than that, they deal with any who are willing to come. Listed below are their primary relationships with the other factions. The Manufactory The Manufactory is a large industrial settlement in the Western Suburbs of Sydney. They commonly send caravans further west to exchange electrical and mechanical parts for the fresh-water and meats Tumblin' can provide to them. Category:Communities Category:Groups Category:New South Wales